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New Delhi: India will play their opening game of the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 on Saturday against arch-rivals Pakistan. Pakistan have an edge over India in all ODIs and in day-night matches as well.
However, India can take some solace from the fact that in the matches played in this decade there is very little to choose between the two sides.
India won the only previous encounter between these two sides in South Africa. Also India have a better win-loss record in ICC tournaments – four wins and just one loss in the five ODIs.
Add to this two Twenty20 matches and India have suffered only one defeat in seven encounters in ICC events against Pakistan. Saturday's match will be Younis Khan's first match against India as Pakistan's captain.
India-Pakistan in ODIs:
| ODIs | Mts | India | Pakistan | NR |
| Overall | 117 | 45 | 68 | 4 |
| in day-night matches | 34 | 15 | 19 | 0 |
| in South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| in ICC event ODIs | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
India-Pakistan in different decades:
| Decades | Mts | India | Pakistan | NR |
| 1970s | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1980s | 30 | 9 | 19 | 2 |
| 1990s | 45 | 17 | 26 | 2 |
| 2000s | 39 | 18 | 21 | 0 |
MS Dhoni is India's best batsman against Pakistan and it will be interesting to see at what position he comes onto bat on Saturday. Dhoni is at his best when he bats at number three or four. He averages more than 80 on both these positions! Sachin Tendulkar, despite all the claims made by Pakistan players, is good enough to occupy the second place after Dhoni.
Indian batsmen against Pakistan:
| Batsmen | Mts | Runs | Avg | 100 | 50 |
| MS Dhoni | 22 | 917 | 57.31 | 1 | 7 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 66 | 2381 | 39.68 | 5 | 14 |
| Suresh Raina | 11 | 216 | 36.00 | 0 | 1 |
| Rahul Dravid | 57 | 1823 | 35.75 | 2 | 13 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 12 | 348 | 29.00 | 0 | 2 |
Shoaib Malik continues to be Pakistan's best batsman against India. Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan also average over 40.
Pakistan batsmen against India:
| Batsmen | Mts | Runs | Avg | 100 | 50 |
| Shoaib Malik | 31 | 1387 | 49.54 | 3 | 10 |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | 9 | 334 | 47.71 | 0 | 1 |
| Younis Khan | 30 | 1086 | 41.77 | 3 | 5 |
| Mohammad Yousuf | 43 | 1343 | 37.31 | 1 | 11 |
| Shahid Afridi | 61 | 1404 | 25.53 | 2 | 4 |
This Indian bowling attack looks somewhat weak with the exception of RP Singh and Ashish Nehra. The bowling form of Harbhajan Singh and Ishant Sharma against Pakistan should be a cause of concern for skipper MS Dhoni. Harbhajan particularly has been unable to have any impact over any of the top-order Pakistan batsmen.
Indian bowlers against Pakistan:
| Bowlers | Mts | Wkts | Avg | SR | Econ |
| RP Singh | 8 | 15 | 26.73 | 30.40 | 5.28 |
| Ashish Nehra | 11 | 20 | 31.90 | 30.90 | 6.19 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 66 | 29 | 45.86 | 50.62 | 5.44 |
| Praveen Kumar | 5 | 4 | 64.25 | 71.25 | 5.41 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 14 | 9 | 71.11 | 90.66 | 4.71 |
| Ishant Sharma | 4 | 2 | 108.50 | 108.00 | 6.03 |
Pakistan bowlers against India:
| Bowlers | Mts | Wkts | Avg | SR | Econ |
| Naved-ul-Hasan | 15 | 31 | 23.68 | 24.90 | 5.70 |
| Umar Gul | 11 | 13 | 37.92 | 40.31 | 5.65 |
| Shoaib Malik | 32 | 20 | 43.35 | 47.70 | 5.45 |
| Mohammad Asif | 7 | 6 | 44.83 | 60.66 | 4.43 |
| Iftikhar Anjum | 13 | 13 | 48.54 | 54.77 | 5.32 |
| Shahid Afridi | 61 | 35 | 57.97 | 68.60 | 5.07 |
Trivia:
